Hi! I'm sorry that I didn't post yesterday but the day went haywire on me and I barely had time to do anything other than homework! Thankfully, today I only have a history test to study for (yay!).

Thanks for reading!

This is another one of the parts I'm not really happy with, but I hope you enjoy it. =D

~ Part Six: Creeping Terror ~

Obi-Wan:

I was drifting between the world of dreams and reality when the noise of pattering footsteps brought me to a state of wakefulness. I opened my sleep heavy eyes and blinked a couple of times to clear my blurred vision. It was still eerily dark in this part of the compound and even after my eyes had adjusted I could barely make anything out. I looked down either side of the corridor but all I could see was the outline of the walls and computer consoles.

There was no one here. Perhaps I had simply imagined the sound.

How much time had I been asleep? Minutes or hours? However long it had been I probably should return to the other side of the compound. There were still patients to attend to. Qui-Gon would be worried, even though he now knew why I had run off. I had planned on telling him of my failure after meditating and gathering my thoughts but he had given me the chance to do neither. Now I didn't know what I had to do. I was still afraid of fire and I had still shamed myself by not being able to reach past that fear to save the person whom I loved the most.

A loud creak broke the silence.

Someone *was* here. I looked around but nothing had changed. I touched the Force to see if I could sense anyone's presence but as with the other compound it reeked of desperation. Beyond that, I could feel nothing.

Another set of footsteps reached my ears and this time a figure appeared at the end of the hallway, bathed in the dim light of a portable lamp. From what I could see he was a doctor – he was wearing the long white overcoats they all used – but I didn't recognize him. There had only been one male doctor at the other facility and his hair had been very short; this man's hair hung loosely about his shoulders. That meant nothing though – this was another compound which would have a set of doctors and nurses that I hadn't met yet.

I slunk further back against the wall. Whoever it was wouldn't be able to see me, hidden in the darkness as I was, so I remained completely silent so as not to alert him of my presence. I felt foolish for concealing myself but there was something about this man that didn't feel right. Why would he be here when this part of the compound was obviously out of use? There were no patients to help here. If he was resting he'd be in his room or in the kitchen getting something to eat. He wouldn't be in an abandoned part of the facility.

The man stopped walking and set down the lamp, letting it cast its glow in a circle over the floor. He approached one of the computer consoles but the darkness prevented me from seeing what he was doing. All I could make out were his feet and part of his legs. He was wearing black boots that appeared to be caked in chunks of mud. In fact, now that I looked closer, his pants where also covered in specks of dirt and grass. Now where, in a medical facility, would he find a muddy field of grass?

He had come from outside. Something Qui-Gon had told me earlier today clicked in my mind. The Mintra had learned the locations of all the Ritnal's compounds and were destroying them by sneaking in and setting them on fire. What if this was a Mintra soldier in disguise? What if he was making sure that all the systems were deactivated in this section before setting it aflame?

I had to stop him. If this compound was destroyed there'd be nowhere to take the patients and they'd all die. Everything we had done at the other facility would be for nothing. The patients we had rescued would die anyway. My Master would have nearly lost his life for no reason. I couldn't let that happen. I was still a Jedi and despite my failure I could stop this man from completing his assignment.

Before I did anything I had to be *sure* that this man wasn't a doctor. I couldn't attack him only to find out that he had simply wanted to take a little walk to clear his mind and get away from all the wounded patients. After what had happened back at the other compound I couldn't make such a mistake. I had to be certain.

Slowly, quietly, I stood up and moved away from the wall. Then I turned towards the man and in a hopefully friendly voice said, "Excuse me sir, can I help you?"

The man jumped slightly, obviously startled, before turning to look at me. I knew that in the darkness he could barely make me out but apparently he saw enough for he turned and fled.

Well, that answered my question.

With reflexes honed by years of Jedi training I jumped into action less than a second after he did. Considering the man's size I was surprised by how quickly he could move and despite my own speed I gained very little distance on him. He had run so quickly that he hadn't had time to pick up his lamp – I was chasing him in complete darkness.

Peering carefully into the blackness I tried to make out his moving shape but I couldn't see more than five or six feet in front of me. Trying to follow him this way was useless. Even more useless was the Force for I could sense nothing besides the hopelessness of the patients and doctors. If I hoped to not lose him in this maze of darkness I would have to use my other senses to track him. By keeping my footfalls light and relatively noiseless I could easily pick up the loud metallic noise that his boot heels made against the tiles of the floor.

This man obviously knew his way in and out of this compound. He would no doubt be heading towards the nearest exit. Unless I wanted to find myself outside and potentially in the middle of army troops I had to catch him before he reached it. I couldn't let him escape – not only could he simply come back at a later time but if I stopped chasing him he would set the place on fire anyway. A fire now would be disastrous – I had to stop him.

Quite suddenly the sound of the man's footfalls disappeared. I strained my ears but could hear nothing – he wasn't moving. I let my steps slow until I came to a complete stop. Looking about closely I realized that I was at a branch off in the hallway. The corridor continued on straight ahead of me but also stretched out to either side. It was even harder to see than it had been further back in the compound and in the engulfing darkness I could not tell what way he had gone, nor could I hear or sense him.

Knowing that if he stopped moving I would not be able to find him the man was no doubt hidden in one of the corridors, waiting and hoping that I would chose the follow a different one than the one he had chosen. How could I be sure where he was hiding?

My only warning was a very soft, almost nonexistent, slither of noise just before the sharp, pointed toe of the man's boot hit me roughly in the stomach. Air came rushing up out of my body in a convulsive painful cough. I crumpled down onto the floor rather ungracefully but I took little note of the harsh contact my knees made with the cold tiles or the pain that had already spread out through my stomach and chest. I was too busy mindlessly gasping for the breath I had lost. My throat was already sore from my previously inhaled smoke and even as I filled my lungs with air it grew raw and stung painfully.

I knew that the man wouldn't wait for me to recover before continuing his assault and I kept my eyes peeled as I took several deep breaths to ease the stinging of my abused lungs. In the darkness I caught sight of a quick, flickering motion that I identified as the man's boot, coming towards my defenseless head.

Reacting quickly and almost blindly, I reached out and grabbed at the man's foot as it neared my face. His kick was strong and my fingers went momentarily numb with a flashing pain as the point of the boot hit me in the palm of my right hand. I gritted my teeth against the throbbing and used my weak grasp to twist his ankle around and forward.

The man cursed loudly, his body flaying in the air indecisively before it came crashing down to the floor. I barely had enough time release him and scramble back out of the way of his tumbling legs. I heard him groan loudly as his feet banged down against the floor and judged that I had just managed to increase his anger tenfold.

Not wanting to give him time to recover I quickly pushed off against the floor and jumped to my feet, ready to defend myself. The man was slower to react, obviously dazed by what must have been a rather painful blow to his head. If I wanted to subdue him I knew I had to take advantage of his confusion.

Stepping back to give myself room I waited for the perfect moment to strike. Just as the man was lifting his head off the ground and beginning to sit up I spun and kicked him in the face. Although I had not intended it the toe of my shoe hit him directly in his mouth. With a surprised gasp he fell back to the floor; a loud thump resounded in the air as his head hit the ground hard. In the darkness all I could make out was the outline of the man's body but I thought I caught sight of a trickle of blood, dripping out from the corners of his mouth.

The man coughed loudly, lifting his body of the ground with the strength of the act, and made an almost feeble attempt to get to his feet. He lifted his head only a few inches off the ground, apparently straining to move it further. Then he swapped his hand to the corner of his mouth, I assumed to wipe the blood away.

Realizing that he would not remain immobile for long I prepared to knock him unconscious but froze when a chilling smile ghosted over his lips. A shiver I couldn't control ran through my body and for the first time since the beginning of this encounter I felt uneasy and alarmed. Why in the Force was he smiling and why did it unnerve me so?

In my anxiety my senses automatically honed themselves and I heard what I had missed before. Footsteps, not just those of one person but of a group of people. We were being approached, and judging by the man's reaction they were no doubt his companions. I reached inside the folds of my tunic to pull out my lightsaber and felt a pulse of fear flash through me upon realizing that I didn't have it. With the rush of events since landing on this planet I had forgotten that my lightsaber had been destroyed in the fire that had nearly taken my life. I had no weapon.

Before I could consider whether it would be best to stay or hide the man spoke; "Help!" he called out, "this young man's attacking me, help!"

A brilliant light suddenly shone over us and I turned just in time to see a group of five men step into view. One of them was carrying a bright portable lamp that nearly blinded me and made spots of white dance in my vision, forcing me to close my eyes.

"Please help!" the man called out again.

I blinked several times until my eyes adjusted to the light and was relieved to see that men were soldiers. I could recognize their uniforms as that of the Ritnal – I had treated more of them than I cared to count. The man was mistaken – these weren't his companions. They were soldiers that must have dropped off a wounded companion, or perhaps even a group of people, for treatment.

The man coughed loudly, "This is the one who has been setting fire to all our compounds – he attacked me when I tried to stop him."

My blood turned to ice when I realized what the man was doing. He was dressed as a doctor and the soldiers would think that that he was telling the truth – not realizing that it was a disguise he wore.

"No," I spoke, shaking my head, "he's lying, he's the one who..."

I never finished my sentence. One of the soldiers had pulled a blaster from his utility belt and was firing it at me. Without my lightsaber I couldn't deflect the shot but I could at least dodge it.

I leapt to the side and the weapon's beam passed harmlessly by me, sailing just millimeters from my arm. Upon regaining my footing I opened my mouth to continue protesting but two of the soldiers had used the blaster fire as a distraction to close the distance between us. One of them grinned wickedly and stepped forward, swinging his arm towards me with vicious strength but not enough speed to hit me. I easily sidestepped and fell back a pace, causing the solider to stumble forward.

I didn't want to fight the soldiers from the same army that I had helped treat but I knew they weren't about to listen to me. They thought *I* was the one trying destroy their compound. Given the fact that this was a *hospital* I could understand their reaction but not their anger and hatred. Those emotions would lead them to hurt me – I knew – I had to defend myself.

I spun in place, turning to kick the off-balance solider in the stomach, but just when my foot would have made contact with him I felt someone take hold of my ankle. The grip was weak and easy to kick off but in doing so I lost my tenuous balance and went tumbling towards the ground. In an attempt to distribute the strength of the impact I used the momentum of my fall to roll along my shoulder onto my back. My arm hurt but other than that I felt very little pain and was left only slightly winded.

As I struggled to regain my breath one of the soldiers bent down to grab hold of my clothes. Seconds later I found myself being roughly yanked up. My feet slid back against the floor and before I could try and regain my balance he used his superior weight to push me up against an unyielding wall.

The look on the soldier's face, the gleam in his eyes, was enough to tighten my throat and turn my heart frigid. He was eagerly hateful of me – bloodthirsty and sadistic. He wanted to inflict pain – on me.

I had to escape.

I surged forward against the soldier but he held me securely in place by pinning my arms above my head, crushing my wrists to the wall. I didn't need the Force to tell what was coming next; the loathing in his gaze told me all I needed to know. Even my years of training couldn't dissipate the pulse of terror that claimed my heart. I was outnumbered, defenseless, and believed to be the enemy. These soldiers were going to hurt me.

Qui-Gon had taught me to relax and clear my mind of worry but it was so hard. Their obvious hate scared me – my fear palpitated in my heart. I had been interrogated before – tortured even – but never by people who despised me. *When you cannot clear you mind, focus on something else – a memory or a dream, perhaps.* My Master's words came back to me but I found them of little use. My mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of fire, memories of fear, and dreams of horror.

Still, I had to try. Tensing up would only make the beating worse. I filled my mind with the image of my favorite memory – my fifteenth birthday. Jedi were not given to having parties to celebrate the pacing of years but rather to contemplating their lives by examining their memories – both good and bad. On that particular birthday my Master had surprised me by arranging a quiet, study-free day. We had spent the whole day sharing our memories and talking. He hadn't spoken about missions, or training, or lessons, but about our fears, hopes, and dreams. We had shared things about nothing and everything. Talking to him that way, as a friend and not an apprentice, was a heartwarming experience that I would never forget.

I relaxed in the soldier's hold.

A movement caught my eye. The Mintra man who had been sent to destroy the compound was taking advantage of the situation. By now he had recovered and had climbed to his feet. The soldiers, all five of them, were giving me their full attention, completely oblivious to the fact that he was slinking back away from them.

The man caught me staring at him and returned my gaze with one of triumphant anticipation. I sensed that he *wanted* to stay and watch what the Ritnal were going to do to me. I suppressed the shiver that threatened to claim my body. I didn't have time to waste – I had to get away from the Ritnal so that I could stop the Mintra from setting fire to the compound.

My thoughts were ripped away by a small commotion of the Ritnal soldiers. Two soldiers had stepped to either side of me so that I was surrounded by my captors. One his companions were in place the one that had me pushed back against the wall stepped back, leaving just enough room for them to reach in and grab one of my arms. Then the man released me and the other two used their combined strength to keep me even more firmly pinned back against the wall.

The advantage to being held this way was not solely theirs, however. My arms and upper body were being gripped so tightly that the muscles were beginning to hurt but my legs were free. If I bided my time and waited for the right moment I could swing my feet up and kick one, if not two, of the soldiers. It wouldn't be enough to knock them out but it would probably weaken the men's grasp on me and give me the split second of surprise that I would need to break free.

As if sensing my thoughts the soldiers holding me quickly put an end to my plan by pressing their upper legs roughly against my thighs. The men were both about twice my size and with their superior strength I found I could barely even move my legs, let alone kick someone with them.

Calming the spike of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm me, I reached out to touch the Force. Despite the current situation I was not helpless as long as I could use the Force. I tried to let it flow through me but I was taken aback by the amount of sheer hatred that was slamming into me through it. The desperation and hopelessness were still as strong as ever but they were now accompanied by the loathing these people felt towards me. Try as I might, I could not feel beyond that. I was cut off from being able to wield the Force.

I was utterly helpless.

TBC...